Marianne Ruth Freundlich Smith

Marianne Smith Obituary

Marianne Ruth Freundlich Smith Passed away at home in Berkeley on July 15, 2006 after a three year fight with cancer. Marianne was born on June 11, 1922, to Julius and Bella Freundlich in Karlsruhe, Germany and fled to the United States with her parents and sister, Lisa in 1934. She grew up in Queens, NY, attended the Queens College and received a PhD in mathematics at the University of Illinois, where she met her future husband. Her doctoral thesis concerned the study of Hilbert spaces. Marianne married Lloyd Smith in 1947 and moved with him to Berkeley, where she taught mathematics at Cal, while Lloyd started working at Lawrence Radiation Laboratory. When the loyalty oath became an issue, Marianne refused to sign, quit teaching, and had five children, Peter Julian, Winifred, Lloyd Michael, Jeremy (deceased), and David Austen. She was divorced in 1966 and taught mathematics as a professor at California State College at Hayward for the next 25 years. She had a lifelong passion for learning and teaching, which spanned fields as diverse as language, history, music, fine arts, math and physics, and politics. A lifelong seeker of truth, Marianne explored many paths to spiritual enlightenment, including psychotherapy and Synanon, and in 1969 became initiated in Transcendental Meditation. TM became her main focus in life. She became a teacher of TM in 1972, and continued taking advanced courses for many years. She revered and loved the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Marianne will be missed by her children, their spouses, and seven grandchildren. A memorial reception will be held at her home on August 6.

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Published by San Francisco Chronicle on Jul. 20, 2006.

Memories and Condolences
for Marianne Smith

6 Entries

Phil Bombace

July 25, 2006

I knew Marianne from TM and always enjoyed her intellectual approach. My deepest sympathy to all the family and friends whose spirit she touched.

Maribeth Martell

July 25, 2006

My condolences to the family of Dr. Smith, I only knew her briefly when I worked in Berkeley, but I know she was an important part of the community for many years.

Sincerely, Maribeth Martell

Michael Laughrin

July 21, 2006

Marianne and I took a TM course together in May 1979. For 2 weeks, we were the only course participants. I assumed that she would be the dirctor. She said, "No, you be the director." Yet, if I chose a tape she didn't like, she exercized her unannounced 'Veto' power and told me to pick another one. She was the 'director' behind the director!

She was an unbelievable character and had one of the most amazing minds of anyone I ever met.

I wish her well on her continued journeys.

Dean Draznin

July 20, 2006

Wishing Marianne's family my deepest condolences. I have many fond memories of Marianne, especially from the days when I was Berkeley TM center chairman in the 1970s. She was a force to contend with for a young teacher like myself, but as a student of life I appreciated her immense intelligence, depth and colorful flair. She had so much on the ball and offered a brilliant opinion on virtually every topic. She had a heart of gold, although it was well guarded and many people missed the immensity of her heart. One illustrative Marianne moment comes to mind: I was recruiting top community leaders to participate in our newly inaugurated seasonal celebrations. Sensing my hesitancy at the challenge, Marianne called the most daunting award recipient on the list, the Reverend of the popular Glide Memorial Church in SF. She got the gentleman on the phone and informed him (playing the role of my executive secretary) that she was calling on behalf of Mr. Dean Draznin, Chairman of the Berkeley Center of the Age of Enlightenment, and asked if he could take my call. Red-faced but emboldened, I picked up the phone and my voice hardly cracked as I gave him my spiel. I'll never forget her fantastic spontaneity and her super-highway big brain.

Dr. Smith (I never called her "Marianne" in those days out of respect) was a master teacher to her core, and I believe that she was always teaching us--often, surprisingly, what we needed to learn...and the timing was frequently humorous. Marianne had a very Zen-like style, brandishing the bamboo stick for those of us who were asleep at the wheel. Sometimes we were able to listen and actually receive her wisdom and rich life experience. I always took her seriously and treated her with the respect that she knew she was due. She accomplished great heights in academia at a time when few women were admitted to the good old boys' club of mathematics at major universities.

I will always cherish her memory and feel grateful to have known her.

God Bless Dr. Marianne Freundlich Smith!

Bei Nie

July 20, 2006

Please accept my deepest sympathies.

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